The girl with a secret
by renXaerrow
Summary: Dawn is just a ordinary girl with a deverstating past. She was put in care and she does now know her real family. what would happen when her all time crush , Tristan Taylor and the others find out about this? Soz the summery is cruddy. TristanXOC


Chapter one: A little push

"How many times have I told you no?"

Duke grinned as he took his seat next to Dawn. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and leaned into her petite frame. "Aw, how many times have you said yes is more like it. Why won't you go out with me?"

She sighed, trying not to lose her cool. Yes, she was kind and shy, but when someone annoyed her, her temper shortened. Dawn peeled his limb off and pushed him away.

"Duke, leave me alone. We all know that the only reason why you want to go out with me is because...well...you know." Dawn's face reddened as she thought of the boy who was sitting across from her at the lunch table, completely oblivious to the feelings she had for him.

"Joey, I told you that's my hotdog!" Tristan cried, exasperated. He reached over his friend and tried to grab it as Joey laughed. The two of them startled to squabble as everyone shrugged them off.

Dawn's light blue eyes travelled to Tristan. She really did like him, and everyone knew that...except him. Even though she hinted it at times, he didn't seem to notice. The only thing on his mind was Serenity. Serenity, Serenity, Serenity. Dawn couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of Tristan's crush on Joey's sister. Deep down, she beat herself up over it because Serenity was actually one of her close friends.

She recalled the time when she first came to Domino City High School. Because of her timid nature, most people didn't even seem to notice her. He was the first guy that was nice to her in so long. It was Tristan who offered to show her around the school. It was Tristan who begged her to come meet his friends and introduced her to the gang.

The more time she spent with him, the more she started to like him. He was sweet, funny, and adorable. Dawn admired him and everyone began to notice. Joey, Serenity, Duke, Mai, Yugi, Tea, Bakura...they all knew how she felt about him. Tristan didn't. Dawn made them promise not to tell Tristan about how she felt about him. She would be much too embarrassed...especially if he did something like laughed at her.

"Hey Dawn, are you coming with us to the mall after school?" Tea asked. "Me, Serenity and Mai are going."

She jerked up from her thoughts and then nodded happily. "Okay!"

School seemed to drag on forever, but thankfully, it finally ended. Dawn walked out of the building happily and as she exited the front doors to the courtyard, spotted Tristan. Her face lit up and she swung her bag, trying to get his attention. When she got closer to the gang, Mai winked at her.

"Hey, sugar. How've you been?"

"Fine, thanks," Dawn smiled.

Her eyes wandered to Tristan, who was busy trying to talk to Serenity. No such luck. Duke was moving in on Joey's sister and was getting pretty touchy-feely. Dawn felt bad for Tristan, so she marched right over there and pulled his arm from around Serenity's shoulders.

"Duke, that guy over there said he wanted to talk to you about Dungeon Dice Monsters."

Duke smirked and he flounced off to the direction where Dawn pointed. She shook her head and jumped when there was a familiar voice right behind her.

"Thanks, Dawn. I don't know what I'd do without you," Tristan grinned. She felt faint and simply beamed at him.

"It's fine, Tristan. I mean, Duke just annoys me." Her face turned sour at the thought of the green-eyed teenager. Tristan laughed and nodded as Joey whistled to the two of them.

"Lessgo, man! You can flirt with Dawn later!"

"I wasn't flirting!" Tristan yelled, running over and punching Joey in the back of the head. The two of them roughhoused while making their way to Yugi's house. Tea turned to face Dawn and smiled.

"Well, we should head off too."

The trip to the mall was nice. Dawn found a few things she liked, and spent some money here and there. Tea was the one who was shopping like crazy, and asking the opinions of the other girls. Serenity and Dawn spoke amongst themselves quietly as Mai kept her cool, watching out for any perverts that might try to hit on them.

The girls, who were tired after walking around the building at least three times, decided to sit down for some refreshments. Mai managed to treat all of them and they sat, slurping their drinks and winding down. Dawn was having fun until the subject finally came up.

"So Dawn...how is things with you and Tristan?"

She almost spewed the drink she had in her mouth. "What?" she asked weakly. Tea giggled at her.

"Oh, come on, Dawn. Why won't you let us set you two up? You like Tristan, and I'm sure if he _knew_ he would definitely want to go out with you! All we'd have to do is make a blind date or something! Maybe drop you off here and bring Tristan, and then pretend we have an emergency and have to leave you two alone. You guys are so cute together."

Serenity tilted her head. "Dawn, if you like Tristan, why won't you go out with him?"

Dawn looked down at her hands that were clutching the drink. She exhaled. Why didn't she just tell Tristan how he felt? It would be much better to get it off her chest and let him know. Who cared if he didn't return the feelings? At least she would've told him. Dawn hung her head low and thought of Tristan's grinning face whenever Serenity was around.

"Because, I'm not the one he likes." She got up suddenly and began to walk away with her drink, feeling tears come to her eyes. It was so frustrating, and these teenage hormones didn't make it any easier! She knew it was silly to cry over something like this, but her girly instincts told her it was okay. Dawn ignored the cries of Tea and Serenity, who were appalled that she left.

Dawn arrived at her house and opened the door. She took a seat on her couch and looked down at her feet miserably. Her phone began to vibrate a few seconds later, and she pulled it out of her pocket. She opened it up and glanced at the glaring light.

**1 NEW TEXT MESSAGE FROM TRISTAN  
whatz up???**

Her spirits suddenly lifted, Dawn excitedly began to text back.

**Nothing much**, she punched into the screen, **what about you**?

There was a short silence, and the phone began to go off again. Dawn decided she would turn off vibrate and actually put the volume up. She did so, and scanned over the quick reply.

**nuthin. Yugi's going to the movies with joey. i cant because i have to watch blankey and her pups.**

Dawn nodded, remembering that Tristan did have a dog to take care of. She thought over it a minute, then texted back. **I could help you, if you want me to. I don't want you to be all alone while everyone else is having fun.**

She shut the phone, surprised at her boldness. After another fifteen seconds, her ringtone went off. She flipped open her phone and her whole face went warm when she saw the reply.

**I'd love it, thx a lot!!! Are u sure u want 2 come?**

After confirming this, Dawn walked to the door and examined herself in the mirror hanging on the wall. Her hazel eyes were lively and her once puffy eyes were calm. She brushed a stray brown hair from her eyes and before she knew it, she was grinning. Even after she exited her house and walked down the street, she couldn't help but do it.

The sun was setting by the time she made it to Tristan's house. She knocked on the door and waited for him to answer, suddenly feeling nervous. Hopefully she didn't make a fool of herself in front of him. He was a jokester in nature, but she was vulnerable right now. It would just be her and Tristan...

"Hey, you made it! Thanks again, Dawn!" Tristan burst as soon as he opened the door. Dawn laughed at his triumphant look and he let her in. She glanced around, spotting Blankey almost immediately. The dog was in the corner of the room nursing her pups.

Tristan chuckled and put his hands in his pockets, staring fondly at his dog. She turned her eyes up to him and let out a small bark, then went back to caring for her puppies. Dawn clasped her slender hands together and turned towards Tristan.

"So um...what do you want to do?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. We could watch TV...or I could break out an old board game...if you want." He was unsure of what Dawn wanted to do, and didn't want to make a jerk out of himself. Dawn smiled.

"Let's watch some TV...maybe there's something good on."

The two of them sat down on the couch, side-by-side. Tristan tried to give the remote to Dawn, but she insisted that he take control of it because it was his house. There were a lot of infomercials on, and some weird game shows, but nothing else.

Tristan groaned and held his head in his hands. "This has got to be the worst time ever, right? Sorry I couldn't think of anything, you shouldn't have come. I mean, you could be with everyone else at the movies...sorry, Dawn." He sighed and Dawn only patted his back reassuringly.

"It's okay Tristan, I'm having a good time, really. I mean, just being here with you is all I'd ever need."

Her blood ran cold. Did she just blurt that? In front of him? There was no one else here. Man, was she embarrassed! Dawn blinked a few times, then looked down at her lap. She expected a questionable glance from Tristan, but instead, he simply laughed.

"Really? That's cool, thanks. I was hoping you wouldn't be too bored here, though. Maybe you can show me some more dueling tips. I know I'm not the best at it..."

He didn't even notice what Dawn meant by his outburst. His mind was still fixated on making sure she was having a good time. For the rest of the night, Dawn was distraught. She practically screamed she liked him and Tristan still didn't notice! What else could she do? Did she have to grab him by the collar of the shirt, kiss him hard, and tell him that she loved--

Wait, did she just think about...love? Wasn't this just an innocent crush?

Whatever the case, she finally took the bus home at around seven-thirty. It was too dangerous to walk all by herself at night. Tristan said goodbye, but she wasn't thinking good thoughts about him. When she finally got home, she walked right past her foster parents and into her room. Nobody knew she was in care because she was frightened that they would treat her different than they do now. Bringing the pillow to her face, she let out a long, drawn out scream.

The next day at school, she noticed something. Tristan was definitely avoiding her. Why? Maybe because of the way she acted last night...Dawn bit her lip. She was acting a little mean because Tristan didn't automatically get the picture she was trying to paint. Whenever she looked at him in class, he would simply turn his head. Tristan, actually taking notes? Usually he would talk with her or pass a note or two. Today he didn't even look at her.

When lunch came around, the gang went to eat outside. Dawn waited for Tristan to come running over with Joey's food, but he never did. She waited with Tea and Yugi, who were talking about the movie they saw last night. She asked them where the two were, but they didn't know.

Distraught, Dawn trudged to her next class. She stopped at her locker to grab a book when she bumped into someone. Immediately, all worries melted away as she stared at the brown-eyed hunk in front of her.

"Tristan! Hi!"

As soon as he caught eyes with her, he started to flip out. "Oh, um, Dawn, I, uh, hi! BYE!"

He rushed past her with a determined look. Dawn turned, watching as he ran down the hallway and took a left. She could hear a crash and Joey scream, and could only imagine Tristan accidentally slamming into his best friend. Dawn sighed and her gloomy mood returned.

It was in Literature when things got even worse. There was a group project assigned to the class, and the only person she wanted to work with was Tristan. Usually they paired up together and she got it done while he talked to her. But as soon as the teacher asked for groups to get together, Tristan ran to Joey.  
_What's going on?_ Dawn thought sadly. _I must have really made him mad if he's going to be doing that all day._

"Dawn, do you have a partner?" Bakura asked as he sat down. Dawn shook her head. "Then could I possibly work with you? If you don't mind, of course." She told him he could and he followed her gaze to his friend. Bakura smiled at her reassuringly and began to write down what was on the board.

When class let out, Dawn tried to get to Tristan. Eventually she found him waiting outside for Joey (who was being lectured by the teacher for stealing Tristan's shoe during class). She smiled brightly at him and waved.

"Tristan, are you going to gym today?"

He looked down and his face erupted into a quick blush. Eyes darting around furiously, he spotted Joey just as soon as he came up. He grabbed his friend's arm and immediately took off down the hall, face red. Steam seemed to erupt out of his pores as he dragged Joey along the ground before calling out back to Dawn.

"See you!"

Dawn cocked her head and crossed her arms, leaning against the wall while pouting. Bakura came out and asked her what was wrong, but she didn't reply. As she made her way down the hall to gym, she took a quick glance at Yugi and Tea. Those two could talk and be happy with just being friends, so why didn't she feel the same way about Tristan? And just what was his _**deal**_ lately?

After getting dressed in the locker room for gym, Dawn walked out, suddenly self-conscious. Tristan was out there in his as well, but he wasn't even looking at her. Dawn turned her head and sighed deeply, not even noticing that by this time Tristan stole a glance at her.

The gym teacher stood there and blew his whistle. "All right everyone, outside! It's warm enough, so no complaining!"

Tea and Dawn chatted on the way out. Tea didn't mention when Dawn left last night because she knew that it wasn't her place to ask. When they got outside, the gym teacher set up a few activities. There was Frisbee, dodge ball, basketball, and a few other games.

Tristan, being the one interested in strategy-type games, went to play dodge ball where everyone was spread around the field. He and Joey were pretending to be in a war, which made Dawn smile. She knew that Tristan enjoyed practicing things that were related to the military.

"HEADS UP!" a kid called out.

Dawn blinked and turned, only to be smacked right in the face. She toppled backwards and fell right onto the hard ground. Tea gasped and bent down to help her up.

"Oh my gosh, Dawn! Your nose is bleeding!"

Dawn felt the stinging pain in her nostrils and hoped that her nose wasn't broken by the rogue basketball. Tea lifted her up and so did Joey. Tristan was nowhere in sight. She felt her chest heave and the tears trickled down her cheeks. It wasn't because of the pain from the hit, but because Tristan didn't even bother to help her.

The walk to the nurse's office didn't take too long. The nurse helped the bleeding, but it did take about fifteen minutes for it to stop. Dawn spent those minutes going over what had happened last night, and thinking of what could've possibly made Tristan hate her.

When she got back to gym, she noticed the boy who had thrown the ball towards her wasn't there. Tea simply said that he went to the nurse's office too. Dawn was confused, and wondered why he wasn't there when she was. Shrugging it off, she continued playing badminton with Tea until the bell rang, letting the students out.

Dawn showered in the locker room and got dressed back into her regular school uniform. She promised to meet Tea outside the school because they were all going out to the arcade. Dawn took her time and eventually made her way down the winding hallways, mind whirring with many thoughts. As she went into the courtyard to meet with Tea, she noticed everyone was standing there.

"Hi?" Dawn smiled at the gang.

They all looked up from talking, but there was one person missing. Tristan. Dawn groaned inwardly. She crossed her arms as the rest of the gang started talking about where they were going. Bakura was there, as well as Serenity, Mai, and (oh jeez) Duke. Surprisingly, Duke wasn't hitting on her as usual. Dawn knew it was only because she liked Tristan that he did, but maybe he thought she didn't like Tristan anymore.

"Sorry I'm late!" Tristan grinned while running over.

The rest waved at him as he stopped next to Dawn. She blinked and didn't even look at him. Tristan didn't mind, and seemed to be pretending that he didn't see her.

"I had a really big talk with the principal, and..."

He trailed off and everyone nodded, knowing why. Except Dawn. Did Tristan get in trouble? If so, then for what? She growled in her head for being so left out and began to walk with everyone else when someone called her name from behind.

Dawn turned. "Yes?" she asked. Tristan, who was following her closely behind, looked down at her confused.

"Uh...what?"

Before either of them knew what was happening, someone shoved Tristan from the back. He flailed his arms and let out a slight gasp. Dawn paled as she was pushed forward. The two of them collided, their lips locking, as everyone in the schoolyard watched with wide eyes. The gang sniggered to themselves as Dawn stood there, horrified she had been forced onto him, and he onto her.

The embarrassed feelings soon faded away as Dawn felt her face slowly heat up. Tristan was kissing her. Kissing her _back_. Whatever happened to the cold shoulder he was giving her? He wrapped his hand around her shoulders and let her stay there. Birds were singing, the crisp smell of spring was in the air, and Dawn was having her first taste at love.

_Wow_, she thought to herself as she shyly put her hand against his chest. _Wow_.

The two stayed like that for quite some time; enjoying the embrace of the other, cuddled tightly, lips connecting them in a way no one could match. Time seemed to be in a standstill, as all negative emotions Dawn had melted away. She didn't know what was better the fact that Tristan was kissing her, or the actual kiss itself.

Bakura and Tea laughed, being the ones who had done the dirty deed. Yugi was admiring the two, while Duke pretended he wasn't bothered by it. Serenity clapped her hands, proud that the two of them were finally showing what they really felt. Mai rolled her eyes but tried to fight back a huge smile. Finally, Joey let out a loud whistle at the two of them.

"Hey, ya guys gonna be done sometime this week, or what? We gotz a movie ta catch, ya know."

The two broke away quickly. Dawn was dazed, and tried to catch her balance as she turned to face the others. As soon as she saw their expressions, her face went bright pink. She raised a fist threateningly and tried to sound menacing. "Don't make me hurt you guys!"

They all simply went along on their way, Tristan and Dawn walking slower than the others. Finally, Tristan turned to her and laughed. "Sorry I was...acting weird. But it finally clicked last night when you said that, and I...well, I realized that I liked you too. You won't reject me like Miho, will you?" He asked fearfully. Dawn shrugged.

"Maybe."

"What?" Tristan cried. She only patted his hand as she held it in hers and said she was only kidding.

"Tristan? Why did you get in trouble with the principal? Earlier, I mean, you were late."

"Oh, that. Well, I sorta, uh...beat up...that guy...who threw the ball at you." He hung his head in shame and she stared at him, beaming.

"Is that all? Well, thanks Tristan. It means a lot to me...I thought all this time you were mad at me."

He stared at her with an eyebrow raised. "I could never be mad at you, Dawn. I mean, just being here with you is all I ever need..."

Dawn realized he was mocking her and pushed him off the sidewalk playfully. "Tristan!"

"I'm only kidding," he laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. His eyes softened and he kept his hand in hers. "So um, uh I ah...want to...you know...go out with me?"

Dawn pretended to think hard for a moment, leaving him in suspense. After a while, she simply got on her tiptoes and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek. Tristan walked stiffly after her lips pressed up against him.

"I'll take that as a yes," he mumbled.

Meanwhile, Joey was giving Bakura a playful noogie. "Hey man, when I said dey needed jus' a lil' push, I wasn't bein' literal!"

"Joey, you don't even know what literal means," Tristan joked as he jogged up with Dawn. Joey's eye twitched and he snarled at his friend. The two of them started up again as Dawn clutched her hands together, a large smile on her lips, as they all headed for the arcade.


End file.
